As one of promising methods for fabricating functional nanostructures showing specific structural and electro-optical characteristics, a self-assembly method allowing a stable structure to be spontaneously formed based on the thermodynamic stability of basic units constituting the structure has received attention in the field of nano science and technology for the past decades. As basic units suitable for this self-assembly method, various units, including small molecules having a size of angstroms (A), biomaterials such as DNAs or proteins, and colloidal nanoparticles, have been used in this method. Of such units, nano- or micro-sized organic or inorganic particles can produce uniform particles having a size ranging from nanometers to micrometers, which can overcome the resolution limit of existing optical lithography technology, and the unit particles themselves have specific electro-optical characteristics. For this reason, these organic or inorganic particles are receiving considerable attention as unit materials for nano- and micro-structures. In order to maximize the characteristics of self-clusters of such nanoparticles and use these self-clusters for substantial applications, it is particularly important to create an array of uniform self-clusters over a large area.
For this purpose, various techniques, including drying oil-emulsion template in water, electrostatic assembly, chemical vapor deposition, and template-assisted assembly, have been reported by leading research groups in Korea and other countries. Nevertheless, a complex process employing expensive equipment is required to achieve a uniform array of nanoparticle clusters over a large area.
Accordingly, the present inventors have made extensive efforts to overcome the above-described problems, and as a result, have found that, when a sublimable supermolecular liquid crystal material is used as a template for inducing self-clustering, a uniform array of nanoparticle clusters over a large area can be achieved, thereby completing the present invention.